A Student Shany Sun's Argument In Favor Of Animal Testing

There is much controversy with regards to animal testing for medical research and there has been throughout the centuries. We can trace the issue back all the way to the 4th century when we have the first record of animal experimentation, Aristotle dissecting animals for study. In the 1600s, scientists began using animals as a way to explore the human body which led to many advancements in the medical field. Such advancements include Emil von Bering finding a cure for diphtheria toxin for guinea pigs; further research allowed him to produce a diphtheria vaccine for humans (Bright).In spite of these many medical achievements brought on through the use of animal testing, there are still those that argue the practice is not justifiable and should

Credibility Step: Much of the information I’m going to share with you today came from the PETA website, the book The Animal Ethics Reader by Susan Armstrong and Richard Botzler, and the article “Animal testing: is it worth it?” by Geoff Watts. II. Body A. (1st main point) The problem of animal experiments has become one of the central ethical dilemmas in the modern society, and some countries have even banned the practice due to its cruelty 1.

Introduction Animal testing is such a controversial topic, but people barely know all the details and facts behind it. Animal testing could be argued in positive and negative ways. There are a lot of things most people don’t know about animal testing. For example, over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year. And that is just in the US.

The discovery of over 160 drugs and vaccines (Sun n.p.) has been through the use of animal testing. “Some other medical advancements that have been discovered through animal testing include penicillin, blood transfusions, insulin (that controls blood sugar levels of diabetics), kidney transplants, and vaccines for polio and meningitis (Sun n.p.). ” Almost every medical breakthrough has come from testing on animals. The polio vaccination, from the polio diseased, has reduced tremendously over the years due to animal testing.

Animal testing has become a double-edged sword topic all around the world. Researchers believe that it is morally ethical to conduct extreme research procedures on animals when it is unethical to conduct on humans. Research is responsible for many medical breakthroughs and an important factor to the development of medical advances is the inclusion of animals in research. Medical research with the help of animal testing has prevented hepatitis B, measles, etc. (Karayiannis et al. 2004).

Animals have helped in finding many discoveries, cures, vaccines, and products for our consumption. Without testings, more humans and animals would have unknown diseases that would not be cured. Many people complain that animal testing is cruel, but we need to realize how beneficial animal testing really is. Acknowledge the positive reasons behind it. Animal testing is not a way of animal cruelty.

While this may be true in some cases, the negative consequences resulting from animal testing are exceeded. According to researchers, there are abundant non-animal testing alternatives that have been discovered including cell cultures, human tissues, computer models, and human volunteers (Cruelty Free International). This displays the available sources that can be used for experimentation which ensures scientists are following the safety guidelines at all costs. This is significantly effective because it reduces the chemical toxicity animals experience and helps scientists view the different results tested which they can compare to other methods utilized.

It does not make sense to use animals for medicine that will be taken by humans, simply because we are different. We do not have the same genetic makeup, and therefore, we should not be trusting these results. We need to discontinue the use of animals in research and introduce safer alternatives that generate more accurate results. First I will explain what type of trials these animals go through, and for what reasons.

Organizations such as Neaves and Peta support this claim and have explained on some articles that “In research and testing, animals are subjected to experiments that can include everything from testing new drugs to infecting with diseases, poisoning for toxicity testing, burning skin, causing brain damage, implanting electrodes into the brain, maiming, blinding, and other painful and invasive procedures”(Neaves). Many researchers who support animal testing also support this claim but have implemented and refined protocols such as the 3Rs. The 3Rs protocol calls for the replacement of animals, reduction of the amount of animals used for an experiment and refinement so animals face minimal pain during the experiment. The third argument states that the use of animals is torture. According to Neaves “...animals used in chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity studies receive the test substance daily, seven days a week, for up to two years with no recovery periods”(Neaves).

When this is done to an animal, it is known as a “transgenic” animal, which means that the genomes can now be modified to express human genes. The controversy over this method is that the results cannot be 100% accurate and able to provide useful information due to the fact that the gene is being used in an animal. This is where even more controversy comes in; “The human genome has now been cloned, which means that researchers can work with human proteins expressed in immortal cell lines, which can be grown in large quantities in the laboratory. This means that researchers no longer have the excuse that animal experiments are the only available option to research human disease and cellular function.” So if testing animals in this way is no longer necessary, then why is it still being allowed to happen?

Imagine an enraged animal rights activist charging toward a scientist in a white lab coat, desperate to free the little mice that are being used as test subjects. Although comical, this scene may be quite accurate when describing the passion that animal lovers have when it comes to the touchy subject of animal testing. For centuries, animal testing has been used in the medical research field, however many are now beginning to question whether it is ethical. Millions of animals are killed per year due to animal testing, so is this practice worth banning? Animal testing is a controversial subject, with supporters pointing out the medical advances that have stemmed from animal research and animal rights activists declaring it cruel and immoral.

Medical advances are supposed to help better human lives, however, animal experiments are doing the opposite. According to Ray Greek and Jean Greek, the co founders of Americans for Medical Advancements, which is a nonprofit organization

"The term 'animal testing' refers to procedures performed on living animals for purposes of research into basic biology and disease. Asserting the effectiveness of new medicinal products, and testing the human health and/or environmental safety of consumer and industry products such as cosmetics, household cleaners, food additives, pharmaceuticals and industrial/Argo-chemicals (“About Animal Testing”)”. 3. Till this day, animal testing is considered justified because scientists believe any type of animal is obligated to sacrifice itself in order to make new products safer for human use and consumption (“Save the Animals”).

Animal testing is a phrase that most people have heard but are perhaps still unsure of exactly what it involve. Whether it is called animal testing, experimentation or research, it should be defined as all testing methods on animals including, medical exploration, cosmetics, toxicology trialing, and psychological examination involving animal subjects. It is used to assess the safety and effectiveness of medications and beauty products as well as understanding how the human physiology works. While supporters believe it is necessary practice, those against animal testing believe that it involves torture and suffering to animals. Medical research is the hardest case of proposition in the debate whether animal testing should be banned or not, since it has previously yielded substantial benefits for humanity.

It is true that animal testing requires a lot of investment. Not only that money is spent on advanced technologies, it is also spent to pay for scientists’ expertise on this particular field. In order for the scientists to do their research, they need suitable equipment and substances. Every year, the National institutes of Health finances between $12 billion to $14.5 billion on animal testing as indicated in a study done by the government (Bastach, 2013). Besides, scientists need to consider the fact that animals need to be sheltered, fed and cared for to keep them alive.